The electrical connector assembly shown in FIG. 8 is a conventional electrical connector assembly disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-264240. Electrical connector assembly 100 is equipped with a housing 107 comprising an upper housing 101 and lower housing 102, the upper and lower housings 101, 102 are fastened together by metal plates 105, 106, plural rows of electrical terminals 103, 104 protrude from respective wall surfaces 101a, 102a of the upper housing 101 and lower housing 102, a flexible printed circuit 110, the ends of which are electrically connected to the respective terminals 103, 104, and which has numerous conductive paths 111 on a surface thereof, and a slider member 120 which is inserted between the ends of the flexible printed circuit 110 that is bent into a U-shape and connected to the terminals 103, 104.
Meanwhile, a mating connector 130, which is engaged with the electrical connector assembly 100, comprises a housing 131 having a recess 132 that accommodates the flexible printed circuit 110 of the electrical connector assembly 100 together with the slider member 120, and a plurality of electrical contacts 133, which are disposed inside the recess 132 of the housing 131, and which electrically engage the conductive paths 111 of the flexible printed circuit 110.
The slider 120 is equipped with an insertion member 121, which is inserted between the ends of the flexible printed circuit 110, and operating members 122, which are formed substantially perpendicular to the insertion member 121 and which have substantially flat planes. In order to cause the conductive paths 111 of the flexible printed circuit 110 to engage the contacts 133, housing 107 is held and the flexible printed circuit 110 is inserted into the recess 132, after which the operating members 122 of the slider member 120 are moved downward so that electrical engagement is achieved between conductive paths 111 and electrical contacts 133.
However, in electrical connector assembly 100, the slider member 120 is merely passed through the flexible printed circuit 110, both ends of which are attached to the wall surfaces 101a, 102a of the housing 107, and it is not supported with respect to the housing 107 by members other than the flexible printed circuit 110. As a result, the slider member 120 can also move in directions other than the direction of insertion into the mating connector 130, and it is therefore unstable. Consequently, the following problem arises: i. e., when the flexible printed circuit 110 is inserted into the recess 1332 of the mating connector 130, the flexible printed circuit 110 is unstable, and therefore varies in position within mating connector 130 thereby affecting the electrical connections between conductive paths 111 and electrical contacts 133.